Bar owner to city: Don't block dancing

Elizabeth Dinan edinan@seacoastonline.com @DinanElizabeth

Thursday

Nov 2, 2017 at 7:28 PMNov 2, 2017 at 7:28 PM

PORTSMOUTH — While Hampton bar owner Al Fleury readies to open The Goat at 142 Congress St. in Portsmouth, his lawyer argues the city is holding up his client's liquor license because Fleury wants his customers to be able to dance.

Not so, said acting City Manager Nancy Colbert Puff, who countered it's not dancing the city is worried about, it's fire code.

In a letter to the state Liquor Commission, Fleury's lawyer Jonathan Flagg reports the city and Fleury are at an impasse over terms of a needed agreement the city would provide to the Liquor Commission as a precursor to obtaining a liquor license. Flagg reported The Goat will be a "casual dining venue with a country twist" and live county music with dancing. To make room for the dancing, he reported, tables would be moved along a wall in the dining room and chairs would be stacked, none of which would block entryways or exits.

That, said Colbert Puff, would be a violation of fire code.

"Based on a document prepared by SFC Engineering titled: Fire Protection: Project Scope and Narrative Report, moving tables and chairs to create a designated area for dancing would not be allowed, without building modification, as it would exceed the allowable occupant load for a non-sprinkled assembly use," said the acting city manager.

A copy of the draft agreement with the city and dated Oct. 5 states Fleury agrees to "certain conditions" before the city provides a favorable recommendation for its liquor license. One of the conditions states, "That at no time shall there be dancing inside the premises at 142 Congress Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, authorized, encouraged, or expressly allowed by The Goat Bar and Grill, its management or employees."

"The parties to this agreement recognize that restaurant patrons might nonetheless engage in intermittent, sporadic and unauthorized dancing," the draft agreement states. "Such unauthorized dancing will not be deemed a breach of this agreement as long as there is no dance floor in the restaurant, the dancing does not occur in the aisles which are necessary for safe egress from the premises and is not authorized or encouraged by The Goat Bar and Grill."

The draft agreement also calls for a review by the city on Aug. 1, 2018, "specifically for the purpose of reviewing noise, dancing and/or nuisance issues which may or may not have been created by The Goat Bar and Grill." Failure to adhere to the terms would result in Fleury agreeing to voluntarily discontinue the sale of alcoholic beverages until he and city reach terms under which the sales could resume.

In a letter to the Liquor Commission Oct. 18, Liz Good of the Planning Department said the city "recalls how these same factors led to public safety issues and ultimately tragedy at the now-closed Page restaurant."

The Page closed after the April 5, 2013, beating death of 24-year-old Joshua Krantz, of Dover. Krantz died of head injuries after he was beaten on a dance floor in The Page by Zachary O’Neill, also of Dover. O’Neill was sentenced to 10½ to 22 years in prison for Krantz’s death.

Fleury's lawyer wrote a letter to the Liquor Commission Oct. 23 saying, "The city's past difficulties with the Page restaurant cannot damn all future restaurants who want to have dancing."

"By comparison, Portsmouth's Gas Light has been a venue for literally tens of thousands of people dancing for 27 years inside and out with no deaths, and the death at the Page is a completely different set of circumstances with no connections, management or otherwise, to any other restaurant in town," Flagg wrote.

Noting Fleury owns four other restaurants, three of them with dancing, his lawyer argued to the Liquor Commission that the city is "trying to use" the commission "to prevent dancing because the city's own ordinances have no such prohibition." He said all of The Goat floor managers are trained to keep alcohol off dance floors and will staff the doors to keep the entrance and sidewalk clear.

Colbert Puff said the city's Liquor Committee met twice with Fleury and both times he "agreed to the city’s negotiated terms, only to learn later, through attorney Flagg, that they were unacceptable." She said the proposed agreement was a result of the second meeting and the language "was agreed to in principle, at the meeting."

Colbert Puff also "categorically object(ed)" to Flagg’s assertion to the Liquor Commission that the city is “forcing” Fleury "to agree that there will be no dancing at The Goat if my client wants the city's blessing to the Liquor Commission." She said The Goat's submitted plan to move furniture to make room for dancing is in violation of fire code.

"We welcome Mr. Fleury and his business to the city, and believe it will be a successful addition to our downtown," Colbert Puff added.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Advertise

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
seacoastonline.com ~ 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service